A warship carrying hundreds of Marines, including some from Camp Lejeune, is headed to Libya.

The USS Kearsarge, which the Navy describes as an amphibious assault ship, could support humanitarian efforts as well as military operations.

A Navy website devoted to the USS Kearsarge says the ship’s principal mission is the “embarkation, deployment, landing and support of a Marine landing force anywhere in the world.”

Maj. Carl Redding, a spokesman for the United States Marine Corps said, ““As part of our contingency planning to provide the President flexibility on a full range of options regarding Libya, we are repositioning forces in the region to include USS Kearsarge and USS Ponce. We will not speculate about possible missions or provide more detail about movement of forces.”

Meanwhile, Mommar Gadhafi’s son is acknowledging that there is chaos in Libya, but insists that his father is still in control.

Gadhafi told ABC’s Christiane Amanpour that his people love him.

Rebels are already in control of Libya’s second-largest city and are instigating fierce battles with government forces outside the capital city of Tripoli.